


Behind the Scenes

by frankiesin



Series: no one here is cis [9]
Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Also Because I Love Gabe, Alternate Universe - High School, Brendon Is A Shady Bitch, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gabe Is For Revenge, Multi, Polyamory, Trans Character, Transphobia, miscommunication as a plot device
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 05:37:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11075136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankiesin/pseuds/frankiesin
Summary: If there's one thing Brendon's good at, it's being a petty, shady bitch.(part of nohic)





	Behind the Scenes

**Author's Note:**

> I don't think there are spoilers for chapter 58 in here, but just in case, you might wanna read no one here is cis before this. It makes more sense in context, I promise. 
> 
> Warning for trans/homophobic language and teenagers being impulsive little shits.

Brendon and Pete had made their peace, at least in the eyes of their friends. Brendon was still bitter, but she figured she’d always be bitter. Pete had gone straight for her insecurities in the group chat, and they’d said things about her that any of their friends could have seen. Brendon was pissed. She was also a little hung up about the whole Ryan incident, but she was trying to put all of that in her past. 

 

She had been naive to think that Ryan would love her forever. They were a  _ middle school romance _ , for fucks sake. It was never meant to last. 

 

Brendon had Spencer and Dallon now, and she loved the two of them more than she could imagine. Currently, they were all in drama rehearsal, and Brendon was perched on a stool with her script in hand. She hadn’t memorised everything yet, but that was okay because it was only January and they still had about four months until the performance. 

 

Brendon had a countdown going on her phone. She took this stuff seriously. Performing in musicals was one of the few constants in her life that had never let her down. She kicked her legs back and forth while she watched Spencer and Sarah--the girl playing Hope Harcourt--practicing one of their scenes. 

 

She glanced past them, out into the audience, and spotted Pete immediately. It wasn’t intentional, because Brendon had no reason to be looking for Pete, but there they were, with bright pink hair that stood out against the boring grey of the seats. They were sitting with the new kids from GSA. Brendon didn’t know enough about those four to know if she liked them or not. The girl with the short blue hair seemed okay, but the other three were giving Brendon bad vibes for some reason. 

 

Pete was in an intense discussion with the guy with blue hair. He was the bartender, and Brendon was pretty sure his name was Josh. The two of them were leaning in close to whisper to each other, and were stifling giggles a lot. 

 

Brendon narrowed her eyes. Was Pete being friendly, or were they flirting with the guy? It was hard to tell, especially since Mikey and Andy were sitting on the edge of the stage in front of Brendon and Mikey was facing towards Pete and their new friends. 

 

-private message to  **hurleyxvx** -

 

**satan’s gf** : hey were u at the gsa meeting where egg and the three blues introduced themselves

**hurleyxvx** : no??? u can just walk over and ask if it matters that much

**satan’s gf** : pete seems interested in blue dude...

**hurleyxvx** : i thought u and pete were done with your feuding

 

Brendon rolled her eyes.  _ Feuding _ made it seem as though she and Pete were the Capulets and Montagues or something. They just had a strange relationship. That was all. Brendon wasn’t going to declare war on Pete’s family, because that would be ridiculous even for her.

 

**satan’s gf** : we are

**satan’s gf** : but if they’re doing this to hurt mikey…. i will have to Get Involved

**hurleyxvx** : why would they be doing this to hurt mikey? mikey still doesn’t know that pete is their twitter crush

**satan’s gf** : don’t spread it but

**satan’s gf** : pete and mikey were sleeping together before new years

**hurleyxvx** : oh shit

**hurleyxvx** : are they still doing it

**satan’s gf** : i don’t think so. pete probably thinks mikey’s seen my texts and is doing the whole “i’m over you blah blah blah” thing

**hurleyxvx** : great. miscommunication. this is why we can’t have nice things

 

Brendon looked up from her phone because Veronica was yelling about something and Brendon didn’t want to be caught unaware. Technically, no one was supposed to be on their phone during rehearsal, but everyone broke that rule. Veronica and Laura didn’t care too much, so long as no one missed their cues. 

 

Veronica wasn’t yelling at Brendon, which was good. Brendon turned her attention back to Pete and their new friends. Pete and Josh were still way too close to be friendly, and Pete was typing something out into Josh’s phone. 

 

Brendon didn’t approach Pete about it during rehearsal. She didn’t want to cause a scene. She waited until Veronica said that they were all done for the day, and that everyone could leave. Brendon grabbed her backpack and gym bag and followed Pete out of the room. Dallon was driving her home, and they weren’t going to leave without her.

 

“Hey, Pete, wait up,” Brendon said. 

 

Pete looked up from their phone, but they didn’t run away. That was good. They put their phone back in their pocket and then shoved their hands into the pockets of their hoodie. “What’s up?”

 

“What’s up with you and Josh? You two seemed to be getting along  _ really well _ in rehearsal earlier,” Brendon said, and cocked her hip. “You got a crush or something?”

 

Pete rolled their eyes. “Why do you care? Mikey and I aren’t a thing, and I’m being direct this time instead of waiting around and pining from a distance until I fuck up and get my heart broken.”

 

“So you’re not flirting with him just to upset Mikey?” Brendon asked. 

 

Pete looked offended, and stepped back from Brendon as though she’d physically hit them. “What, no! Are you out of your mind? Mikey was never the person I had an issue with, and you’re blowing this way out of proportion. I like a guy. I’m interested in dating a guy. So what?”

 

“I’m not… I’m not policing you,” Brendon said. She wasn’t. Now that she was standing here, she realised that Pete was right and she was blowing things out of proportion. But Pete had started all of this in the group chat when they called her a slut and made her feel as though Dallon and Spencer didn’t actually like her. Brendon took a deep breath. “Just… Mikey’s my friend. And they do know that you’re not hooking up with them anymore, right? They know you two are over?”

 

“Yeah, of course,” Pete said, and walked out of the building before Brendon could say anything. Brendon narrowed her eyes. Obviously, she didn’t have any proof, but she knew that Pete was lying. They hadn’t talked to Mikey. Mikey was still out of the loop. 

 

Brendon shook her head. “Why do I always have to be the one to break the news to people?”

 

\----------------------

 

Brendon’s parents were still being strict about when she could leave the house and who she could hang out with, so she was at Dallon’s house instead of Spencer’s. It wasn’t too bad, although it did remind her of middle school and having Dallon get mad at them for swearing when their mom was in the next room. 

 

Dallon’s mom still hung around the house a lot, but she’d gotten a job as a painting teacher and so usually she made Dallon stay up in their room. Brendon didn’t mind, because Dallon’s room was nice now that they weren’t sharing it with their older brother. 

 

“You’re planning something,” Dallon said as soon as they closed the door behind Brendon. 

 

Brendon rolled her eyes before climbing up on Dallon’s bed and stretching out. She was in guy clothes, because Dallon’s mom would flip her shit if she saw Brendon in makeup and heels. Brendon didn’t want to get into any more trouble with her parents. She flipped over onto her stomach and looked up at Dallon, batting her eyelashes. “Why would you think that?”

 

“Because I know you,” Dallon said, and joined her on the bed. They stayed sitting up, and so Brendon sat back up as well because it was annoying having to look up at Dallon all the time. 

 

“Okay, so I am planning something, but I promise this time it isn’t bad,” Brendon said. She sighed. “Don’t tell anyone else about this, but Mikey and Pete used to hook up back before New Years. It was casual, it was kind of a secret, except now Pete’s going after that Josh guy from drama and Mikey doesn’t know that Pete’s off the table.”

 

“You’re going to tell Mikey,” Dallon said. 

 

Brendon nodded. “Not everything. And, if Mikey’s cool with it, I’ve got a plan. Pete’s doing this for two reasons. One, they actually have a crush on Josh and they’re a horny fucker. Two, they’re pissed off or upset at Mikey for some reason, and they’re lowkey using Josh to make Mikey jealous. So. I’ve got a friend.”

 

“Oh no.”

 

“Gabe,” Brendon said. “He’s cool, he and Mikey used to be friends anyway, and I’ve already texted him to see if he’d be okay with it. I just need to figure out what to say to Mikey without making them too upset. Pete’s kind of cheating on them.”

 

“I’ll invite Mikey over and we can tell them together,” Dallon said, and pulled out their phone. Brendon leaned over their shoulder, watching them texting Gee to ask Mikey to come over to Dallon’s house. It was really annoying, not having Mikey on kik anymore. Brendon missed their presence online. 

 

“They’ll be over here soon,” Dallon said. They put their phone off to the side and sat back so that they were facing Brendon. Brendon knew that she and Dallon didn’t have a lot of time before Mikey showed up, but she hadn’t been able to be with either of her partners since New Year’s. And New Year’s didn’t even count, because the three of them didn’t really do anything in Spencer’s bed that night. 

 

Brendon was a little desperate. She leaned forward, moving onto Dallon’s lap, and kissed them slowly. Dallon kissed her back, holding her face in their hands. Brendon moved closer, pressing against Dallon and pulling them back down onto the bed. Dallon lowered Brendon onto the mattress and kissed down the side of her neck, biting gently so that they wouldn’t leave behind any hickeys. 

 

Brendon ran her hands up under Dallon’s shirt, pressing her palms against their warm skin. Dallon mouthed at Brendon’s neck, grinding their hips down on hers. “Mikey’s gonna be here soon. We can’t.”

 

“Not with that attitude,” Brendon said, and pushed Dallon over so that they were on their back. Brendon sat up and started unzipping Dallon’s pants. She glanced up at him through her bangs, which had fallen into her face while they were making out. “Can I suck you off?”

 

“Yeah, shit,” Dallon said. They pulled her in for a heated kiss, one hand tangled in her hair and the other on her waist, holding Brendon close against their body. As they made out, Brendon reached her hand down between them to pull Dallon’s jeans down to around their thighs, and then slid down so that she was hovering over their crotch. Brendon pulled Dallon’s boxers down too, nuzzling against their erection. 

 

“Bren, come on,” Dallon said. She knew that they weren’t always so desperate, but Mikey was on their way and Dallon’s mom was downstairs, so things had to go fast. Brendon really didn’t mind. She licked up the underside of Dallon’s cock before taking it into her mouth and sucking. Dallon threaded their hand through her hair as she bobbed her head up and down, swirling her tongue across the head of their cock. 

 

Brendon curled her fingers around the base of Dallon’s cock, stroking up and down as she sucked, and lowering her head so that her lips touched her fingers. She swallowed around Dallon’s cock, and they let out a low, quiet moan. Brendon licked across the head before dropping back down to suck and swallow again. 

 

She looked up at Dallon through her hair. Their head was thrown back and their mouth was open, cheeks tainted pink. Brendon smiled a little around their cock. She loved seeing her partners like this. Both Dallon and Spencer were insecure about their bodies, which was understandable because there were a lot of days where Brendon absolutely hated hers. She couldn’t change how either of her partners looked, but she could make them feel loved. Sometimes she did that with orgasms. 

 

Dallon let out a little whine and squeezed Brendon’s shoulder, which was their sign that they were about to come. Brendon leaned back so that she only had the head of Dallon’s cock in her mouth, and swallowed when they came. Some of it got on her lower lip and her chin, so Brendon leaned back to wipe it off. 

 

That, naturally, was the exact moment there was a knock on the door followed by Dallon’s mom saying, “Dallon? Your friend Mikey is here!”

 

Dallon hissed “ _ shit _ ” under their breath and lifted their hips up to pull their boxers and jeans back on. Brendon quickly wiped her mouth and pulled her legs up so that it wouldn’t be so obvious that she was aroused. She ran her other hand through her hair, sweeping it back from her face, and watched Dallon race to the door before their mom could open it herself. 

 

“Hey, Mikey, you got here faster than I expected,” Dallon said. Brendon could see Mikey from where she was sitting. Mikey was looking back and forth between Dallon and Brendon, and Brendon knew that Mikey knew what they’d been doing right before the door opened. 

 

Mikey looked up at Dallon. “Yeah, my mom was already ready to go when I asked her to drive me here. It was weird.”

 

Dallon’s mom smiled at them. She seemed unaware of what she’d just interrupted, thankfully. “Well, you three have fun doing whatever it is teenagers do these days. Dallon, remember to keep your door open since you have a girl up here now.”

 

“Mom,” Dallon started to say, but their mom raised an eyebrow at them and Dallon nodded. She left after asking if Brendon or Mikey wanted anything to eat or drink (neither of them did). Dallon leaned out of the door after she left, and then leaned back in. “Okay, she’s gone. Mikey, do you mind if Brendon and I go to the bathroom for a sec? We’ll be right back, I promise.”

 

Mikey nodded, not looking either of them in the eye. “Yeah, sure. I’ll… um, where can I sit?”

 

“The bed’s clean,” Brendon said. She and Dallon had done worse things to those sheets, and they’d survived. Mikey wasn’t in any danger of accidentally touching Dallon’s cum if they used the bed. 

 

Brendon stood up, carefully. Dallon’s mom was a pretty good mood killer. She was still turned on, but it wasn’t as obvious now, which was good. She didn’t want to explain her plan to Mikey while still sporting a hard-on, and she wasn’t in the mood to get jerked off in the bathroom that Dallon shared with their siblings whenever their siblings were in town. 

 

Dallon closed the door behind Brendon, and she heard the door click. They leaned against it, running a hand through their hair. “That was too close.”

 

“I know,” Brendon said. She was trying not to think about what would have happened if Dallon’s mom hadn’t knocked. Brendon was already in a lot of trouble with her parents. Getting caught having sex with anyone--let alone someone they thought was the same gender as her--would make things so much worse. Brendon took a deep, shuddering breath. “I shouldn’t have suggested it.”

 

“It’s not your fault, okay?” Dallon said. They lifted Brendon’s chin so that she was looking up at them. Dallon was so much taller than Brendon when she wasn’t wearing heels. She’d forgotten about their height difference. Dallon rubbed their thumb against Brendon’s cheek. “We just have to be careful, at least until Spencer gets ungrounded and your parents let you go out again.”

 

Brendon rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like that’ll happen. They barely trust Spencer’s parents as it is.”

 

“Spencer’s a good person, and his parents are weirdly nice,” Dallon said. “There’s a reason why we all end up at his house when we need to get away from our own issues.”

 

“I guess you’re right,” Brendon said. She turned away from Dallon to check her face in the mirror and make sure she didn’t look too obviously debauched. She hated how she looked without makeup. Brendon barely passed as a girl when she was wearing makeup and her usual clothes, but now she just looked ugly. Brendon sighed. “We should go back to Mikey.”

 

Mikey was sitting on the corner of Dallon’s bed when Dallon and Brendon returned to the room. Dallon sat down on the other end of the bed and Brendon sat down in between Dallon’s legs. She pulled at a string on her jeans. “Sorry.”

 

“It’s cool,” Mikey said. “Why’d you have Gee tell me to come over?”

 

Brendon glanced over her shoulder at Dallon, but she knew she had to do the talking. She turned back around to face Mikey. “So, um, first of all Dallon knows about you and Pete. Second, I don’t know if you and Pete ended things, but they seem to think so and so now they’re going after that Josh guy in drama as some kind of rebound, revenge sex. I think.”

 

“I know Pete and I are over,” Mikey said. “I ended it before Christmas break.”

 

Brendon blinked. “Oh. You’ve been single that long? I had no idea.”

 

“Pete and I were never a couple, Brendon,” Mikey said. They bit at their nail. “We couldn’t be, because Pete’s dating Patrick and Patrick didn’t know about me. And she probably doesn’t know about Josh, either.”

 

“Patrick and Pete aren’t dating,” Dallon said. Brendon was equally confused. She hated to admit it, but Pete had only slept with Ryan because they were upset that Patrick wasn’t interested in them. Pete and Brendon had hate-fucked for the same reason. 

 

“Are you sure?” Mikey asked. They looked pissed off, but even worse, they looked heart-broken. Brendon knew that Mikey really liked Pete, and if Mikey had ended it, it was because they thought they were going behind Patrick’s back when they actually weren’t. Either Pete had lied to Mikey, or they’d just avoided talking about Patrick in general. 

 

Either way, Pete was a shitty person for messing with Mikey’s feelings like that.

 

Dallon squeezed Brendon’s hand. “I’m sure.”

 

Mikey dropped their gaze and clenched their jaw. “Shit.”

 

“I’m sorry, Mikey,” Dallon said. They motioned for Mikey to come over, which Brendon was fine with. Mikey looked like they needed emotional support. Their eyes were red, and they looked like they were about to scream or cry or maybe both. Mikey crawled over and tucked their chin against Brendon’s shoulder, leaning up against her and Dallon. Brendon reached around to run her hand through Mikey’s hair, ignoring how it was oily and would get tangled in her fingers. 

 

Mikey leaned further against the two of them, their glasses pressing against Brendon’s cheek. “Is that why you wanted me to come over? To tell me about Pete?”

 

Brendon paused. She didn’t want to throw another thing at Mikey, especially when they were emotionally vulnerable. But, she’s already started making plans with Gabe, and it was too late to back out now. “No, actually, there’s another thing. You remember Gabe Saporta, right?”

 

“Oh no,” Mikey said softly. “What’d you make Gabe do?”

 

“I didn’t make Gabe do anything,” Brendon said. She leaned away from Dallon and Mikey so that she could actually look at Mikey. They were at eye level now; Mikey’s eyes were wet but they hadn’t started to cry yet. Brendon reached out and put her hand on Mikey’s ankle. “This is entirely up to you, but, since Pete’s being an asshole and running around with a new guy on their arm, why don’t you do the same thing back to them?”

 

“With Gabe?” Mikey asked. 

 

Dallon nodded. “Yep. Brendon and Gabe are still friends, and Gabe’s up for pretty much anything. You two wouldn’t have to date for real, unless you ended up liking each other, of course. It’d be a gentle  _ fuck you _ to Pete.”

 

“I’ll do it,” Mikey said, squaring their jaw. “I’ll pretend to date Gabe to make Pete feel like shit.”

 

\----------------------

 

The issue, of course, was that Gabe went to a different high school, and Brendon was still under the watchful eye of her parents. She didn’t want to get Dallon into trouble by having them drive her over to Harrison after school let out, so she had to improvise. 

 

-private message to **fangzout** -

 

**satan’s gf** : gabe i kno this is last minute but can we meet somewhere that isn’t hhs

**fangzout** : yea sure 

**fangzout** : wanna meet at willows house? 

**satan’s gf** : do u guys usually hang out there

**satan’s gf** : i don’t want anyone to get suspicious i’m still lowkey grounded

**fangzout** : oh dude ur screwed

**fangzout** : but yea no one’ll think its weird that we’re there and willows parents dont give a shit

 

-private message to  **satan’s side ho** -

 

**satan’s gf** : hey i need u to cover for my ass today after school im taking an uber to willow’s house

**satan’s side ho** : Why there? I thought you were going to meet Gabe at her high school?

**satan’s gf** : yea but my parents kno that gabe goes there they dont know where willow lives and gabe hangs out there after school anyway

**satan’s side ho** : Couldn’t you just have one of the three of them pick you up? That way you wouldn’t have to pay for an Uber.

**satan’s gf** : ur an enabling genius and i love u

**satan’s side ho** : I know, and I love you too.

 

Brendon grinned a little at that. It wasn’t the first time that Dallon had said that to her, but hearing  _ I love you _ from either of her datemates made Brendon deliriously happy. 

 

The first two class periods went by quickly after that. Brendon snagged Mikey before they could disappear into the girl’s locker room to tell them about meeting Gabe after school. “Gabe’s on board, obviously, I just need to make sure everyone knows what’s going on before Gabe shows up to sweep you off of your feet at drama rehearsal.”

 

“You’ll tell me when she’s showing up, right?” Mikey asked. “I don’t want to get caught off guard.”

 

“Of course,” Brendon said. She wasn’t that shitty of a friend. She ruffled Mikey’s hair before spinning on her toes and walking off to the guy’s changing rooms. As soon as she wasn’t facing Mikey, though, her confident mask started to fall. She didn’t belong in the guy’s locker room, and she hadn’t seen Spencer so she had to go in alone. 

 

Brendon tightened her grip on her gym bag and pushed the door open. Immediately, she was hit with the sound of teenage boys yelling at each other, along with the putrid smell of Axe body spray and used gym socks. Brendon wrinkled her nose. Teenage boys were disgusting. She ducked into the locker nook (the lockers were separated by teacher) and started changing as fast as she could. Brendon didn’t belong here. Every day she came in here, terrified, and stripped down only to put on ugly clothes. 

 

_ Where the hell is Spencer? _ Brendon thought to herself. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she felt like she was about to cry. So far, the other guys were ignoring her, but she knew they wouldn’t stay that way once they realised she was alone. 

 

Brendon was an easy target. She was trans, she liked guys, and she had weird parents who were super religious to the point of being embarrassed. There was a reason she never went to the bathroom alone.

 

“Hey, faggot, are you gonna wear those shoes out on the track or are those just to make your boyfriend feel better about dating a tranny?” Someone said. Brendon’s back was turned, so she didn’t know who it was. She didn't want to know, either. She threw her gym shirt over her head and knelt down to dig out the pair of socks. 

 

_ Ignore them ignore them ignore them ignore them. _

 

“Are you serious?” Pete said. Brendon glanced over her shoulder, quickly, only to see Pete standing up on the bench in the middle of the room and glaring down some straight guy. Pete grabbed a fistful of the guy’s shirt and pulled him up towards them. “Why the fuck do you care what Brendon does? You’re an ugly failed abortion; it’s not like people give a shit about you in the first place.”

 

“What the hell is your damage?” The guy snarled, pushing Pete back. Pete let themself get pushed off the bench, and stuck the landing. “Are you fucking that thing too? Fucking faggot.”

 

“Say that again, asshole, I dare you,” Pete snarled. They were a good six inches shorter than the other guy, but they also had Joe, who was watching everything from the other side of the bench and looked ready to jump in and help Pete if they needed it. 

 

The door to the room opened again, and Spencer came in, looking frazzled. He met Brendon’s eyes, and then turned to see Pete and the random straight guy facing off in the middle of the dressing room. Spencer walked around them, set his bags down beside Brendon, and started changing like nothing was wrong. 

 

“You okay?” He whispered to Brendon. She nodded. She wasn’t, but no one had hit her, so she considered that successful. Spencer reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently before finishing changing into his gym clothes. “Sorry I was late, my teacher kept me after to talk about something dumb.”

 

“Spence, it’s okay,” Brendon said. “As you can see, Pete’s handling the situation.”

 

Spencer looked over his shoulder, to where Pete was still getting in the face of the other guy, and Joe was right behind him. Spencer shook his head and turned back around. “If they start throwing punches I’m leaving.”

 

“Take me with you,” Brendon said, somewhat seriously. 

 

“Always,” Spencer said. He then took off his shirt and Brendon looked away so that she didn’t create  _ another _ scene. Everyone here saw her as either a gay guy or a guy in a dress, and no one, outside of Spencer and maybe Joe, actually liked her. The less attention she drew to herself, the better. 

 

Pete took a punch right before Spencer and Brendon left. Spencer grabbed her by the arm and nearly sprinted the two of them out of the room. It was a bit of an overreaction, but Brendon didn’t mind. She didn’t want to be in that locker room for any reason. 

 

She expected Spencer to let go of her once they were near the doors, but instead he pulled her into the bathrooms, which no one ever used. They got used during gym class, when people got tired of exercising and would claim they needed to piss so that they could go hide in the bathroom on their phone for the rest of the period. No one used them before and after class, though. There wasn’t enough time. 

 

Sure enough, the room was empty aside from Brendon and Spencer. Brendon opened her mouth to ask what they were doing in the bathroom, because it smelled like piss, when Spencer pulled her in for a kiss. They’d kissed numerous times before, in various places, but this felt a little different. Spencer pulled back, still holding Brendon’s face in his hands, and she stared up at him. She put her hand over his. “What was that about?”

 

“I love you,” Spencer said, like he’d just thought of it. 

 

It took Brendon a moment to comprehend what he’d just said. “What?”

 

“I love you,” Spencer repeated. He didn’t look thrown off, or anything. He was handling this a lot better than Brendon had when she told Ryan she loved them the first time. Of course, Ryan had turned out to be an ass who didn’t know how to love people, so they could go fuck themself. 

 

Brendon kissed Spencer, just like he’d kissed her. “I love you, too.”

 

“Sweet,” Spencer said, because he was still Spencer. Brendon rolled her eyes and flicked the tip of his nose. Spencer just kept grinning at her. “I already told Dallon, by the way. I love them too. I just… I was waiting for the right time to tell you.”

 

“Any time is the right time for that, Spence,” Brendon said. It didn't matter that Spencer had said it before; this time was the first time he'd said it when they were in the same room. There was something special about getting to see Spencer's face when he told Brendon he loved her. She kissed him again, her hands on his shoulders and leaning up a little to be at his level. She leaned back, gazing into his eyes. “Let's go get fit, or whatever.”

 

Spencer made a face. “It's weight day, too. Fuck.”

 

“Hey, at least your partner’s cool,” Brendon said, stepping away from Spencer as the two of them exited the bathroom and headed over to the bleachers. Mikey was already there, sitting with their legs stretched out and looking utterly bored. Brendon pulled Spencer over, sitting down in her spot next to Mikey. 

 

“You guys took longer than usual,” Mikey commented. They'd been subtly pointing out whenever Brendon, Dallon, and Spencer were being particularly gay. Brendon knew it was their attempt at distracting people from the shitstorm that was Gee and Lindsey, but she indulged them anyway. 

 

“Made out in the bathroom,” Brendon said. 

 

“Amongst other stuff,” Spencer added. Brendon wiggled her eyebrows, even though all she and Spencer had done was make out. She liked giving the impression that there was always some piece of information she was holding back on. 

 

\----------------

 

Gabe’s car was just as flashy as she was, complete with decorative lights taped to the back of the car. Brendon shook her head. She loved Gabe, really, but she was ridiculous. Brendon got up from where she'd been sitting on the stairs and walked down to where Gabe had pulled up to the curb. 

 

Gabe rolled the passenger window down and leaned across the car. “Get in loser, we're going shady!”

 

“Shut the fuck up,” Brendon laughed, rolling her eyes. Gabe just lowered her shutter shades and winked before popping the door open so that Brendon could get inside. It was still cold out, and Gabe was blasting the heat. Brendon rolled up the window as Gabe tore off through the parking lot and took off Dallon's jacket as well. She leaned back in her seat and turned the music up, messing with the lime green fuzzy dice that Gabe had dangling from the rearview. 

 

“I almost got balls, but Travie talked me out of it,” Gabe said offhandedly. 

 

Brendon raised an eyebrow. “Travie? Seriously? I thought ze was into that weird shit.”

 

“Well yeah, but what if, like, my mom needs a ride somewhere?” Gabe said, honking as she sped past the other cars. Gabe was a bit of a reckless driver, but Brendon loved it. She couldn't wait until it was hot out and they could roll down the windows and let the wind fuck up their hair. That was the best part of being a passenger: all the fun of driving without the responsibility of having to make sure no one died. 

 

“Good point,” Brendon said. “The dice are nice and trashy, though.”

 

“Thanks, that's really what I'm going for.”

 

Brendon shook her head and flipped down the mirror to make sure her makeup hadn't been entirely ruined. Since she wasn't going home yet, she didn't need to wipe it off, and there was no point in wearing makeup if it didn't look fucking amazing. “Sometimes I can't tell when you're being serious or not.”

 

“Don't worry, no one can,” Gabe said. “It's part of my charm.”

 

She pulled into Willow’s driveway and slammed on the brakes. Brendon was jerked forward, but luckily she hadn't been holding anything close to her face, so she only freaked out a little. She leaned back and fixed her hair. “You gotta give me some warning, seriously. I could have died.”

 

“But you didn't,” Gabe said. “That's what's important.”

 

Brendon rolled her eyes and got out after her friend, following Gabe around to the backyard. Willow’s whole house looked like a fairytale hippy dream world, because her parents were weird and Brendon was sure they’d time-travelled from the 60s without telling anyone. The backyard, however, was even more surreal than the front of the house. Willow didn’t have a treehouse like a normal teenager. No, instead there was a hollowed out, wheelless 1962 Volkswagon minibus in the back of the yard. It still had seats, but they were turned against the wall of the van, and there were vines and flowers growing outside of it. 

 

Ryan had loved it, back when they and Brendon were still a thing and they’d come over to Willow’s house instead of Spencer’s or Gabe’s. Because of that, Brendon wasn’t a huge fan of the thing, but she could still admit that it was an awesome hideaway, and aesthetic as shit. 

 

Gabe swung the back door open and climbed inside, not waiting for Brendon. Travie and Willow were already laid out on the pillows and blankets that they kept under the seats in the van. Gabe dropped down between the two of them, and Travie sat up to offer Brendon a little bag of Cheezits. Brendon accepted the food and perched herself on one of seats. “So, uh, you three are probably wondering why I’ve gathered you here today.”

 

“You’re stealing our Gabe,” Willow said, draping her arm over Gabe’s shoulders. “Consensually, of course.”

 

“That's not… okay, that's  _ kind of _ what I'm doing, but I'm not taking Gabe for myself, I'm stealing her for a friend,” Brendon said. “And also because I'm a petty bitch and Pete's being obnoxious again.”

 

“How long do you think it's going to take?” Travie asked. 

 

Brendon obviously had no idea, because she was dealing with Pete and Mikey, both of whom had repeatedly proved that they were really bad at expressing their feelings or picking up on other people's signals. She shrugged. “Probably, like, a month.”

 

“That's cool,” Travie said. Ze draped zir leg out over Gabe’s. “I still talk to Pete sometimes. I don't want to fuck everything up by saying I'm dating Gabe when she's supposed to be Mikey's partner.”

 

“I mean, it's not like I'm making you two break up with Gabe,” Brendon said. “It's just for show.”

 

Travie nodded. “I know. I'm letting you know that I support your pettiness but that I'm not ending my friendship with Pete over it.”

 

“That makes sense,” Brendon said, nodding. She relaxed, after that, and the four of them talked about school for a bit before Gabe kicked Brendon’s ankle with her heel and reminded Brendon that she had to get back to Castle High. She was supposed to be at rehearsal, and being Veronica’s favourite wasn’t enough to keep her out of trouble entirely. Brendon sighed and said goodbye to Travie and Willow, promising to come back whenever her parents stopped being dicks, and then headed back out into the cold. 

 

-private message to  **mieky** -

 

**satan’s gf** : u now have a gf

**mieky** : gabe’s dms are cool with it?

**satan’s gf** : yep

**satan’s gf** : whenever u wanna start dating gabe, just let us know and we’ll act accordingly ;)

**mieky** : what the fuck is that winky face for

**satan’s gf** : idk let me be a slutty mess in peace

 

“Stop harassing my boyfriend,” Gabe said, reaching over and flicking Brendon’s cheek. 

 

Brendon stuck out her tongue. “They’re not your boyfriend.”

 

“Whatever, stop harassing my Mikey,” Gabe said. She grinned at Brendon, and Brendon grinned back. It was good to have someone who understood her, and was willing do stupid shit in the name of being petty. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed!!


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